Kenya

Kenya a Year Later

Thomas16 Comments

One year ago today we hopped on a BA flight out of Heathrow and landed in Nairobi, Kenya for an amazing week of Safari. We are lucky to get to travel a fair amount but nothing will ever compare to our week in Kenya.

UPDATE: If you want to see more pictures, you can go back into the My Porch archives from December 2008 to see them. After clicking on the link just scroll past the first few posts  to see all the photos from the Safari.

Safari: Kenya November 2008

Thomas5 Comments

John and I in two different hemispheres–literally!

We had the great opportunity to go on the trip of lifetime a few weeks ago. We joined a group of of 7 travel agents (like me) and their companions (like John) for a week long safari with Abercrombie & Kent. We saw and experienced so much in a week it was unbelievable. We had wonderful weather and a great time with our group.

If you plan to go on a safari, take my advice, don’t economize. This is one trip that has enough bumps (literal and figurative) that you should do everything you can to smooth them out. If you have to cut corners on your next 10 vacations to do your African safari the right way, I say do it. A&K did a fantastic job and was worth every penny.

Instead of being in a hotel or run of the mill lodge, we were in permanent tented camps that combined a great deal of comfort with the feeling of being out in the wilderness. The hot water bottle in the bed at night, comfy beds and linens, hot showers and flush toilets, and wake up calls that consisted of coffee and hot chocolate delivered to our tent was a great way to see Kenya.

As you will see from the following pictures, we also saw lots and lots of wildlife. This is just a fraction of the 1500 or so pictures we took.

Safari: The Mara

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We saw many different landscapes in the Mara, but the area near Olonana (perhaps toward the West, I am not sure) was perhaps the most breathtaking. The Mara National Park in Kenya is separated by only its border with Tanzania from the Serengeti. You can come close to the border but I don’t think you are allowed to cross it. So the Serengeti will have to be another Safari.

We also saw many giraffe along the way in various settings, but I think these pictures really show how awe-inspiring the Mara is.

Safari: Olonana

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Our final stay was at Abercrombie & Kent’s beautiful Olonona tented camp. This wonderfully gracious property right on the banks of the Mara River. The main lodge is beautiful and comfortable, the food is great (a delicious Carbonara in the middle of the African wilderness) and the staff is very attentive and professional. And our tent was beautiful as well with two double beds and Molton Brown products in the bathroom.